Google Updates

A Meta notice to advertisers, reported by PPC Land, says product browsing will turn on for existing Facebook and Instagram ads on 28 October 2026 unless advertisers opt out. People tapping an ad may see an in-app product experience instead of going straight to the website. The feature can be toggled off per ad.

Google is moving inline links higher in AI Mode and AI Overviews answers and redesigning the Dive Deeper section with image thumbnails. It is also testing a top-of-answer section for official sites and clickable creator names on video results. Preferred Sources and news carousels are expanding to more locations and languages.

Google Ads is rolling out channel prioritization and budget allocation controls. Advertisers can mark channels such as Search partners or the Display Network as high or low priority and cap low-priority spend as a share of daily budget. The controls cover Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen.

Google began rolling out the September 2026 spam update on 24 September. It applies globally and to all languages and could take up to two weeks, longer than the year's earlier spam updates. Google described it as a normal spam update and did not say it targets link spam or announce any policy changes.

Google's September Demand Gen Drop adds Business Agent for YouTube Ads, a conversational AI that answers viewer questions alongside product-feed video ads. It also adds one-click image ads in YouTube Shorts and Gmail and Affiliate Location Extensions on Google Maps for retail networks and dealerships.

Google has released an embeddable Preferred Sources button. Readers who click it add the site as a Preferred Source in Google and return to the page they were reading. Preferred Sources can appear more often in Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google also announced Discover feed controls in users' own words.

Google started the August 2026 spam update on 18 August and finished it on 21 August, a rollout of 2 days and 16 hours. It applied globally and to all languages. Google announced no new spam policies and published no blog post, only Search Status Dashboard notes.

Google is removing the campaign-level language targeting setting from Search and Performance Max campaigns from September 2026. Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin said language will be detected automatically from the ad creative, landing page, search term and user language settings, and Google will prefer ads that match a query's language.

Google is encouraging advertisers to prepare for the sunset of traditional Dynamic Search Ads and migrate toward AI Max-powered campaign structures.

Google's AI Max campaign technology is now expanding into Standard Shopping campaigns, signalling a broader shift toward AI-driven product advertising management.

Google Ads API v25 introduces richer YouTube reporting metrics and new loyalty-focused campaign goals, giving performance marketers deeper visibility into video performance and customer retention.

Investors are watching Alphabet's upcoming earnings closely as AI-powered Search, AI Overviews, Gemini, and Google Cloud take centre stage. The results will show how AI is reshaping one of the world's largest technology businesses.

A new group of major publishers has filed a lawsuit against Google over the use of their copyrighted content to train AI models. The case adds to a growing global debate on AI, copyright, and how publishers should be compensated in the AI era.

Google Photos now turns your photos into short, share-ready videos using AI. The new Video Remix feature adds transitions, music, and effects automatically — a big win for content creators, small businesses, and social media marketers.

Google has announced deeper integration of Gemini AI into its advertising platform, introducing Business Agent for Leads and BrandStack to help businesses generate, qualify, and manage leads more efficiently.

Google's AI-powered search features continue to reshape how users discover information, while publishers raise concerns about declining website traffic and broader use of their content in AI-generated search experiences.

Google's latest core update continues to emphasize content quality, expertise, and user intent. Many websites have experienced ranking changes as Google refines how it evaluates and presents search results.

Google is expanding AI-generated search summaries to more search results, helping users get answers faster without opening multiple websites. Businesses may need to optimize content for AI Overviews to maintain visibility in search results.

Google Search Central added a new AI Overviews performance view inside Search Console, letting site owners see which pages are cited in AI answers and how that traffic compares with classic blue-link clicks.

Search Engine Journal's latest benchmark shows short-form vertical video ads on Meta now drive higher CTR than static image ads across most retail and services verticals, with creative volume the deciding factor.

Google Search Central has clarified that the helpful-content signal now evaluates topical depth and first-hand expertise more strictly, especially for YMYL pages where thin AI output is being demoted.

Google Ads has rolled out stricter automatic creative review inside Performance Max, flagging low-quality AI images and stretched assets that hurt asset-group ratings — advertisers should refresh creatives.